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Brought to you by Boats.com Europe, Yachtworld.com Europe, Scuttlebutt Europe is a digest of sailing news and opinions, regatta results, new boat and gear information and letters from sailors -- with a European emphasis. Contributions welcome, send to Coming 'round The Corner The first of the giants is expected to finish this ninth edition off Point-a-Pitre, in Guadeloupe Monday evening (French time, early afternoon local), but even with a lead of 193 miles and 475 miles to go (16hCET Sunday), Franck Cammas on Groupama 3, was seeking to bolster his defences as much as possible in the light conditions which had already seen the leader slow to 10 knots Sunday afternoon. The chances of beating Lionel Lemonchois' outstanding 2006 race course record of 7 days, 17 hours and 19 minutes, look very unlikely. In the IMOCA Class Roland Jourdain's lead on Veolia Environnement remains solid for the moment as the fleet deal with fast reaching conditions, gusty winds over 30 knots through late Saturday and into the night and awkward seas, but they need to reposition themselves for the light winds and calms extending north east from the islands which will prevail in their route in the future. Already questions were being asked today if Armel Le Cleac'h might have given up some of his northing to try and get south of the high as it develops, but Le Cleac'h (Brit Air) was back up to third this afternoon and moving fastest of the fleet. For the 41 solo skippers left racing in the Class 40 fleet, the shape of the front of the fleet has been stable for some time, with Thomas Ruyant (Destination Dunkerque) settled as the class race leader, today on the 16hrs (CET) with a lead of 67 miles, gaining another seven miles in second placed Sam Manuard (Vecteur Plus), but as a high pressure system starts to form in the north, threatening some of the main body of the northern contingent, the balance is in some way being redressed finally for those skipper in the south. The best of the sud-ists has been Nicloas Troussel (CMB) and now into well formed trade winds, with a fast course ahead of him, maybe now is when he can will start to regain some of the 196 miles deficit he has on the fleet leader. Conditions have been pretty muscular, gusty with big, uncompromising seas at awkward angles. Sail damage has been reported, particularly by Route du Chocolat winner Tanguy de Lamotte on n Novedia-Initiatives (mainsail) and Thierry Bouchard on Comiris-Pole Elior Health), Conrad Colman on 40 Degrees has torn his big gennaker, Eric Defert on Terralia Drekan-Group has been frantically dealing with a pilot repair, the jobs lists lengthen. * At the last position report, it was Francis Joyon who was sending the speedos into turmoil, making 18 knots in relation to Groupama 3's 10 knots. Suffice to say that at this pace, the 355 mile deficit he has at the moment will quickly shrink away. In Pointe a Pitre a moderate S'ly wind is blowing across the land. The sky is overcast and there's a sticky heat. The bookmakers could line their pockets. In reality it's the meteorologists above all who have their noses to the grindstone, cursing Tomas, the powerful tropical depression which is fogging the issue. Patience is the order of the day then as we await the privilege of witnessing the triumphant arrival of the winner. Positions at 1500 GMT on Sunday 7th November * The Class40 racing throughout the first week has been characteristically tight and filled with drama and humour. Devastating gear failure took the early lead from round the world sailor, Bernard Stamm and Cheminees Poujoulat, with Thomas Ruyant on Destination Dunkerque taking pole position mid-week as the Class40 fleet split with hotly-tipped Nicolas Troussel and Credit Mutuel de Bretagne leading a breakaway pack east of the Azores High in search of a quick route to the NE Trade Winds. While Ruyant and the northern group found the strongest breeze to the west, a lurking mid-Atlantic high-pressure system threatens to turn the position rankings upside down. Behind the lead group and catching the north-easterly breeze in the early evening on Friday, Eric Defert on his brand new Verdier Design Tyker40 Drekan Energie - Groupe Terrallia, Damien Grimont on the newest boat in the fleet, the Pogo S2 Monbana and the German Mini sailor Jörg Riechers on the 2009 Owen Clarke Design Mare.de consistently traded 4th, 5th and 6th place throughout Friday with Grimont embedding in 4th place overnight and holding a ten mile lead over Riechers by noon on Saturday. Leading the southern group in 19th place, Nicolas Troussel and Credit Mutuel de Bretagne continued south on port gybe until midday on Saturday, before changing onto starboard and heading westwards although the continuing, southern gamble had cost the French skipper five places and a loss of just over 100 miles on the Class40 leader in 24 hours. For British sailor, Pete Goss on the chartered Akilaria RC2, DMS, trailing Troussel by 69 miles in 25th place, the benign conditions for the southern group north of Madeira came at a price: " 'Goss Removals and Mining here'," reported Goss on Saturday morning. "It felt like it last night for we had a fractious wind that was up and down, meaning that I had to move all the ship's stores four times," he explained. "If it is very light, they go forward to stop DMS dragging her bum and if the wind picks up, they go aft for power. It's quite a task and I say 'Mining' for it feels like it when crawling around under the cockpit shifting big cans of fuel." www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com First Test Sailing In Dubai
At 1300, All4One and Emirates Team New Zealand went sailing for an afternoon testing session in the two boats supplied by the Kiwi team. The other two boats for the event, from BMW ORACLE Racing, will go out on Monday. All4One tactician John Cutler (NZL) said his team had a productive first sail in Dubai, but will step up the intensity on Monday. Matti Paschen (GER), the spinnaker trimmer, has spent a lot of time sailing off the coast here with Team Sea Dubai, in the RC 44 Class. He says this time of year typically brings sea breeze conditions, ideal for racing. "We can expect good conditions," he says. "Usually every day you get a sea breeze filling in at around 1300, maybe 10 knots. It's normally very consistent. For racing, it's ideal." The Race Village is scheduled to open on Friday, with the teams taking testing sessions on the race boats all week. The opening press conference for the regatta is on Friday evening, with racing in the first round robin to begin on Sunday. www.louisvuittontrophy.com Seahorse December 2010 Rod Davis ORC column Olympic and small boat news - Flipping tacks BMW Oracle Racing Victory Tour Visits Canada
The team's diverse, multi-national composition is well known, but it was the "Canadian Connection" that helped to bring victory in the 33rd America's Cup last February. Canadians are likely more familiar with the Stanley Cup than the America's Cup, but the "Auld Mug" of 1848 pre-dates "Lord Stanley's Mug" by 45 years. Canada is a four-time challenger for the America's Cup (1876, '81, 1983, '87), yet this is believed to be the Cup's first visit to Canada. "We did a show for the young sailors of the area in the afternoon and then a bigger show at night for club members, guests and media that included the Cup," said Paul Henderson, former President of ISAF and an RCYC member. "We had to cut off the evening at 400 guests. It was very well received. RCYC was a good host club." Henderson was an unflinching friend for BMW ORACLE Racing during the lead-up to the 33rd Cup. His daughter, Martha, is the RCYC Vice Commodore responsible for marketing and organized much of the evening's festivities and was a member of the 2008 Canadian Olympic Sailing Team. The night featured team members Tom Ehman (Head of External Affairs), Ian "Fresh" Burns (Design Team Coordinator) and Brian "Puck" MacInnes (Sailing Team Grinder), who hails from Nova Scotia. The team's visit to Toronto honored the friendship of local sailors who were unwavering in their support of the team: Fred Eaton, Magnus Clarke, Rob Patterson, Rossi Milev and Paul Henderson. bmworacleracingblog.blogspot.com * Artemis Racing's formal announcement of their entry for the America's Cup is on Monday 8 November at 13:30 Central European Time. At the press conference: - Jacob Wallenberg, Commodore - KSSS The live webcast is available at: RC 44 Championship Tour To Visit California Racing will take place directly in front of the Broadway Pier, site of the Event Village. The public is welcome free to view the action up close as the top sailors from New Zealand, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Russia and the U.S. battle within shouting distance of the downtown San Diego waterfront. Since its 2007 debut, the RC 44 class has held 24 regattas in Europe and the Middle East, attracting substantial spectator interest and media coverage. Fourteen RC 44 sailboats are coming to the US for only two events this winter (Miami and San Diego) before heading back to Europe for their summer circuit. The racing format will be a combination of both Match Racing and Fleet Racing. The RC 44 Cup will be run by Sailing Events Association San Diego (SEA SD), a new organization which promotes major sailboat racing events in San Diego for the benefit of the local economy. www.sea-sandiego.org Match Racing In Germany This Past Weekend
The event was sailed with club owned Streamlines, eight teams from seven countries participated and found challenging wind conditions between 1 and 5 Beaufort. -- Manuel Huensch www.hsc-hamburg.org/regatta/ladiesonly/ladiesonly.html * Berlin: Bjorn Hansen went 2-0 in the finals of the BWM Berlin Match Race to defeat Markus Wieser. In the Petit Final it was Phil Robertson over Alvaro Marinho 2-1. Final results: 1. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Full results: Event site: 
Get A Deal On The Racing Rules! To order the Rules DVD or learn more about it, go to: www.LearnTheRacingRules.com BKA Sailors Receive Boost From Ran Rácing Furthermore the team have organised for a number of their sailors to race with the Academy on board Kolga providing top notch coaching input from some of the best sailors in the UK if not the World. Rán Racing will be making provision for the running costs of the boat including yard fees, insurance costs and someone to look after the boat and carryout on-going maintenance. The more long term plan will be to pass on this roll to one of the academy sailors offering the opportunity to gather some hands-on experience in preparation for working in the industry. Niklas Zennstrom owner of Rán Racing commented: "We are really looking forward to working with keelboat racing's fledgling stars and helping to make provision for their further development. Not many opportunities exist bridging the gap between club racing and professional campaigning so this really is an exciting program." Working with some of the UK's top young aspiring keelboat racing talent within the Academy, Ran Racing are anticipating an exciting talent spotting opportunity for their teams across their wider TP52 and Mini Maxi campaigns. www.britishkeelboatacademy.org 18ft Skiffs NSW Championship - Race 1
Jarvin had two different crew members to the team which helped him win the 2010 Giltinan Championship, but there was no lack of ability on board as they raced to an all-the-way win. Babbage (who will be sailing on 7 all season) and Harris (filling in for Sam Newton for three weeks) are former team mates from Rag & Famish Hotel crew of the past few years and were in the 2008-2009 NSW champion, Rag & Famish Hotel, with John Harris. Following '7' home today was Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, crewed by Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas, which finished 28s behind the winner. Third place was filled by Red Claw (Matthew Searle, Archie Massey and Mike McKenzie), which finished a further 1m11s back, followed by Yandoo (John Winning), Rag & Famish Hotel (Jack Macartney) and De'Longhi (Simon Nearn). The race was sailed in a 15-knot North-East breeze and all teams elected to carry their bigger #1 rigs. -- Frank Quealey, Australian 18 Footers League The NSW Championship will continue next week with further races each Sunday until the final race of the championship on 5 December. www.flying18s.com Herreshoff Marine Museum Prepares For Fifth Decade As the Museum enters its fifth decade, and following his induction into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in September, Mr. Herreshoff has decided to resign as President at the Museum. Although stepping back from daily operations, he will continue to work for the advancement of the Museum and remain a member of the Board of Directors through the end of his term. One of America's outstanding sailors, Halsey Herreshoff is the grandson of the legendary "Wizard of Bristol", Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, and is himself a naval architect and marine engineer. Along with the late Edward duMoulin, he founded the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1992, an additional attraction at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. Through his sailing prowess and the Hall of Fame, Halsey Herreshoff has made friends around the globe, adding considerably to the prestige of Bristol. Halsey is perhaps best known for his career as an America's Cup sailor, having served on many cup defenders of the 12 Meter Era, first as bowman on Columbia in 1958 and concluding as navigator on Liberty in 1983. Michael Reppy's Quests
1. The singlehanded record from SF to Tokyo Japan The Record for the course, approximately 5,700 NM was 1st set by Eric Taberly in 1969 aboard his "state of the art" 35' monohull "Pen Duick", 39 Days. 15 Hours and 44 minutes. The record stayed true until SF Native Peter Hogg drove his 40' Trimaran " Aotea" in 34 Days, 6 hours and change in 1992. In 1990, Michael commissioned Shuttleworth to design a more modern carbon fiber racing trimaran the 30' Nai'a, Hawaiian for dolphin, representing Earth Island Institutes " Save the Dolphin Project. By 1996 after lengthening the tri to 36' He set off to beat Hoggs 1992 record, and was well on the way to doing just that when she pitch poled just short of Tokyo. By 2000, Michael had obtained Warren Luhrs 60's mono-hull " Thursdays Child" and readied her for a 2nd attempt. Ironically a chance meeting with some large cetaceans ended the quest after his rudder was broken in a collision with said behemoths in the darkness of night. In 2001, his 2nd go aboard Thursday Child end short again after 36 days, this time thanks to fickle winds approaching the finish. A 4th attempt was schedule then a torn knee cartilage put the quest on the back burner. Michael now in his 60's realized manhandling the 60' Thursday's Child was a bit much and donated her to a Southern California charity foundation. In 2006 Michael purchased the all carbon 43' Tony Grainger trimaran, then named Spirit of Emu. She was refitted and re-launched in 1997 in San Juan Island and rechristened " Dolphin Spirit" in honor of her mission, to set the record and bring awareness of th plight of the dolphins of Japan and world wide. In 1991, Michael had seen a covert film produced bay Sam LaBudde, which 1st exposed the horror of the Drive Fishing Industry happening secretly on the tourist Island of Taiji Japan, where thousands of dolphins and small whales are rounded up into a cove and slaughtered brutally for reasons Westerners find hard to understand, the lucky ones sold off into captivity for the entertainment industry. www.savejapandolphins.org Michael's goal is to utilize the record attempt and hopeful success to bring much needed attention to the current plight of the marine mammals currently being rounded up in Japan and elsewhere, ultimately ceasing the practice forever. You can follow Dolphin Spirits Adventures at www.dolphinspirit.org From Erik Simonson: Featured Brokerage Includes Triad Triple Axel Trailer. Brokerage through Northrop and Johnson, Inc.: www.yachtworld.com/northropandjohnsonri/ Complete listing details and seller contact information at The Last Word |
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